Mini Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Not Good:
- Gambit? Reasonably well portrayed, but shamefully underused. Did he even have 5 minutes of screen time? I'm not sure why they bothered to have him in the movie at all.
- Wolverine's birth and discovery of his powers? Frankly, I didn't care. It only helps to reveal big secrets if they matter; otherwise, they are just lame. This was lame.
- The stunts? Most of the best ones were in the preview.
- The final enemy? Wow, let's take an established character and add in 17 other powers just for fun. And still have him never have any chance of winning.
- Continuity with the X-Men movies? Sort of, but I could sit here and poke holes in that all day.
Good:
Hugh Jackman's physique is ridiculously impressive. And he loses his shirt enough that those who like shirtless men should have no complaints.
The Blob was pretty awesome in limited screen time.
Sabertooth was much, much cooler than he was in the first X-Men movie.
If you treat the movie on its own merits and pretend that the X-Men movies aren't in continuity (which I have trouble doing), it's a reasonable excuse to have explosions and fights, even if those fights and explosions really aren't anything special.
If we compare it to other Marvel films, here's how I'd rank them.
-- Would Watch Again Without Hesitation --
Iron Man
X2
X-Men
Blade (quit laughing, I love that movie)
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man
-- Might Watch Again --
Wolverine
X3
Daredevil
-- Would Watch Again if I Was Drinking --
Blade 2
Fantastic Four
Blade: Trinity
Hulk (innovative cool graphic style, terrible movie)
FF2
Did not see and wish I had: Punisher, The Incredible Hulk
Did not see and have weird cravings for: Punisher War Zone
Did not see and don't care: Ghost Rider, Elektra
PS - Stay until after the credits.